Hang Tuah is a warrior who lived in Melaka and worked for Sultan Mansur Shah (reigned 1459-1477). It is also said that he worked for Sultan Mahmud Shah (r.1488-1511), procuring women for the Sultan with the roving eye! Afterall, it was during the reign of the distracted Sultan Mahmud Shah that the Portuguese managed to sack Melaka. There are so many legends associated with Hang Tuah that it is hard to separate fact from fiction. Even Hang Tuah’s ancestry is still hotly debated; so is he Malay or Chinese?
I shall not attempt to answer this thorny question here, but just show you some of the places where he is exhalted in Melaka. Here is Hang Tuah’s well (it is under the red roof) in Kampung Duyong, and its importance is that is was a supply of clean water, dug by Hang Tuah himself. It is said that he was brought up near here along with this four friends Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu, who were also warriors in the court of the Sultan.
There are a lot of other interesting buildings around here, many having the distinctive style displayed by the Melaka Sultanate Palace. Here is an assembly hall… the carpark for the well (Perigi Hang Tuah) is opposite this hall.
Hang Tuah’s Mausoleum is located in Tanjung Kling, and it is easy to drive past this site and not see the gates at its entrance. While there are signposts to here on the main road, the entrance is not signed and there are no formal car parking spaces. His tomb is surrounded by display panels telling his story and guarded by a snake (a paradise tree snake)!
Hang Tuah’s Mausoleum is within a beautiful cemetery and I am rather glad there were not too many visitors there this time.
This is the entrance to the Hang Tuah Museum, in Kampung Jambatan Duyong, not far from Hang Tuah’s Well. The large car park is just past this entrance on the left and, or course, not signposted.
What you have here is a collection of fine wooden buildings in 15th century style. The largest building is the museum which has a lot of information displayed digitally, except not all the computers controlling these displays had been turned on. So, we wandered around to get some inspiration on how to portray Malaysian warriors and practically had the whole complex to ourselves. I think they must be geared up more for group visits of school children.
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